Arla, Morrisons, Tesco and Aldi announce trial of methane-reducing feed additives 

The project will see a collective effort across the food industry to trial the use of Bovaer, a feed additive that reduces enteric methane emissions from cows on average, by 27%, Arla explained. 

As part of its FarmAhead Customer Partnership initiative, Arla will work alongside retail partners Morrisons, Aldi and Tesco on its new Future Dairy Partnership initiative, to highlight how feed additives can be introduced to normal feeding routines.

The new project, which will also involve around 30 of Arla’s farmer owners, aims to provide a better understanding of how these feed additives can be rolled out across a larger group of farmers. 

Earlier this year, Tesco had already announced its partnership with a Cheshire-based farm to trial a methane-reducing feed supplement for dairy cows. 

‘That is really going to make a difference’ 

Paul Dover, UK agricultural director at Arla Foods, said: “We know that reducing methane is a big opportunity when it comes to improving our carbon footprint at farm level and feed additives like Bovaer have huge potential in helping us tackle this issue.  

“Bringing partners together from across the food & grocery industry in this kind of initiative highlights the support there is for British farmers in transitioning to more sustainable farming methods. 

“We are extremely excited about this new collective way of working alongside our retail partners and the possibilities that feed additives, such as this one, present.  

“However, rolling them out at scale will not be easy due to the cost involved, so it’s important we understand more about their usage potential and then work together with the industry, government and our partners to support farmers if we want to harness the opportunity they present in driving down emissions.” 

The partnership confirmed that Arla’s Bovaer trial will provide a more practical understanding of how to scale the use of feed additives, how it impacts on farm operations, and the opportunity to work more collaboratively with the feed industry. 

In a joint comment, Morrisons, Aldi and Tesco said: “Through collaboration as part of Arla’s FarmAhead Customer Partnership, we have the ability to address some of the climate challenges facing our food system.  

“It is this collective approach that is really going to make a difference. Being involved in using a feed additive is a great way of testing out where we can drive change at scale to bring down emissions.” 

Arla added that as part of its ongoing commitment to reducing the impact of dairy production, it has ambitious science-based targets, including reducing CO2e emissions from scope 3 by 30% by 2030.

Long-term effects

Lindsay Duncan, senior farming campaign manager at World Animal Protection, commented on the news: “Quick fixes like feed additives are not going to be enough to create a sustainable food system, we need to be eating less and high welfare meat and dairy.

“We do not know the effects of these kind of quick fixes on animals in the long term. Instead, we should be looking at truly regenerative and high welfare farming practices.”

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